Thanks to travel and holidays, it has been a little while since we have checked in with the Lobos, who are currently sitting at 4-5 on the season. while the results have been uneven so far, there are many encouraging things to take from the first nine games of the season. The team will continue to have ups and downs all season, and will look great during some stretches and not so good during others. One thing that has been easy to see so far is how much faster the pace of play that the Lobos are playing at is compared to last year, which means that when the Lobos are hitting shots, they are able to build huge leads in a hurry.
Category: Lobo Basketball
Men’s Basketball Game 10 Preview: NMSU
After a thrilling come-from-ahead then come-from-behind win against UTEP, the Lobos travel down south to take on the NMSU Aggies again. While the Lobos have been a little up-and-down since the two teams first met a few weeks ago, the Aggies have been on a hot streak. Hopefully the Lobos can snap that streak to come out with a sweep of the season series.
Men’s Basketball Game 8: Illinois State
Fresh off of winning the 50th anniversary game for the Pit, the Lobos head back out on the road to take on Illinois State. This game is part of the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge, where most of the teams from the two conferences are playing each other. It’s a good opportunity for the conference to prove its mid-major superiority, so hopefully the Lobos can do their part to help.
Women’s Basketball Game 6: At NMSU
The Lobos (2-3) are currently on a three-game losing streak, having lost at Texas Tech and two home games against Tulsa and Saint Joseph’s. They are looking to get back on track on the road against NMSU (4-2), who they dominated in their first meeting a couple of weeks ago, winning going away 84-55. In the first meeting, the Aggies had no answer for Rachelle van der Keijl, who finished the game with 19 points (9-12 FGs), 20 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots. It would be safe to assume the Lobo coaching staff will make it a point to get van der Keijl and Jaisa Nunn involved early and often in this rematch. The Lobos also had great games from Alex Lapeyrolierie (22 points, 5-12 3P FGs) and great playmaking by Cherise Beynon, who tied a Lobo record with 15 assists.
Trends:
Since it has been a few games since we have caught up with the Lobos, here are a few of the trends that have caught my eye.
Good Trends:
- Rachelle van der Keijl has been fantastic early this season for the Lobos, leading the team with 16.2 points, 12.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks a game. Look for Coach Bradbury to make a point to play through the post more as the season goes along.
- Jaisa Nunn has been great coming off the bench so far this season, teaming up with van der Keijl to form a great 1-2 scoring punch in the post. Nunn is averaging 12.4 points and 8.8 rebounds in 23 minutes a game. After not attempting a three-pointer last season Nunn is 2-7 (28.6%) from distance these first five games.
- The Lobos are shooting a lot of three-pointers, as expected. While they haven’t shot great from behind the line so far this season (28.8%), Alex Lapeyrolerie has been the one Lobo to shot well from distance, making 16-42 (38.1%). With the Lobos shooting three-pointers at such a high rate (26.4 attempts per game), if the Lobos can hit 10 threes a game, that would go a long way in being a high scoring team.
- While Cherise Beynon has struggled with her shot early this season, she has done well to make an impact setting up her teammates in good scoring chances and helping on the glass. So far this season, Beynon is averaging 8.6 points, 8.6 assists and 9 rebounds a game.
- The Lobos have had quarters where they have dominated their opponents. This shouldn’t be a surprise, considering the fast place they play at. When the Lobos are hitting shots from the outside and getting the ball inside, they are hard to stop and can build big leads in a hurry.
- The Lobos defense has done a good job limiting good looks for their opponents, holding them to 35.3% from the floor and 28.3% from the three-point line.
Bad Trends:
- Due to the lack of true point guards and great outside shooters, the Lobos can go through long droughts. During the Tulsa game, they scored 2 points during the second quarter. The Lobos will have occasional struggles scoring, but it isn’t because of style or lack of effort.
- Cherise Beynon has struggled from the floor so far this season, shooting 14-81 (17.3%) from the floor. I fully expect this number to go up, but the question will be how much, since last season Beynon shot barely over 30%. If the Lobos are able to shoot well the rest of the season, we could see Beynon being close to averaging a triple-double.
- Right now, the Lobos are averaging 14.8 turnovers a game, which isn’t horrible considering the pace they play at, but I would venture to guess that Coach Bradbury and staff would like to see that number closer to 12.
- The Lobos have struggled with turning their opponents over, with their opponents averaging only 11 a game. The Lobos need to find a way to force more turnovers to get in transition where our athletes should be able to get easy buckets.
Stat Comparison:
| Lobos | Aggies | |
| Points Per Game | 71.2 | 73.7 |
| Points Allowed Per Game | 65.2 | 61.8 |
| Rebounds Per Game/Margin | 51.6, +6.8 | 44.3, +1.0 |
| Assists Per Game | 16.6 | 16.8 |
| Turnovers Per Game | 14.8 | 15.3 |
| Steals Per Game | 4.2 | 12.2 |
| Blocks Per Game | 5.0 | 5.7 |
| Field Goal % | 37.6% | 39.4% |
| 3 Point% | 28.8% | 27.8% |
| Free Throw % | 55.7% | 67.7% |
| Opponent FG% | 35.3% | 35.3% |
| Opponent 3P FG% | 28.3% | 27.5% |
As we can see from the stats, these teams are evenly matched. I would be surprised if this isn’t a close game, unlike their first meeting in The PIT.
Prediction:
This should be a good matchup between the two Division I schools in the state. Due to the first meeting, I expect the Aggies coaching staff to make more adjustments than the Lobos to start the game. If changes aren’t made, we could see a repeat of the first meeting. I think this game is going to be a lot closer and will likely be a toss-up game between the two teams. I give the Lobos a 54% chance of winning the game, with the final being 79-75. Expect Cherise Beynon to make up for her bad shooting in the first meeting with a big game against the Aggies.
Game Info:
Who: New Mexico Lobos (2-3) at New Mexico State Aggies (4-2)
When: Wednesday November 30, 5:30 PM MT
Where: Pan American Center, Las Cruces, New Mexico
Steam: ESPN3
Men’s Basketball Game 7: Abilene Christian
The Lobos return home from their trip to the Wooden Legacy to celebrate the Pit’s 50th anniversary tonight. They’ll do so by hosting Abilene Christian, who they played in the Pit’s first game, which is pretty cool. Hopefully the Lobos will be able to celebrate in style.
Men’s Basketball: Thoughts from the Wooden Legacy
The Lobos spent the holiday weekend in SoCal, playing in the Wooden Legacy against a tough field. They ended up getting 6th place after going 1-2 with a loss to Virginia Tech, a win against Cal State Northridge, and a loss to Dayton. In some ways, this outcome wasn’t surprising, as they lost to the teams they were expected to lose to and beat the team they were expected to beat, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t disappointing in its own right. But, now that it’s over, there are a few things that we’ve learned about the team from this early part of the season.
Men’s Basketball Wooden Legacy Preview
It’s time for the Lobos’ annual trip to a holiday tournament, and this year they’re headed to Orange County for the Wooden Legacy. It’s a stacked field with a lot of good opportunities for wins, so hopefully the Lobos can take advantage. Because it’s a holiday and I’ll be in a cabin in the woods, instead of individual game previews, I’m just going to take a look at the tournament as a whole.
Men’s Basketball Game 3: NMSU
After a successful first weekend, the Lobos get back to action on Friday, when they’ll host in-state rival New Mexico State. This rivalry always seems to produce tense games, and this one should be no different. Hopefully that makes for a very, very loud Pit.
Women’s Basketball vs. NMSU Game Preview
The Lobos (1-0) got their season off to a good start with a dominating win against Fairleigh Dickinson, winning 83-56. It was a good matchup for the Lobos to shake off some of the rust and start to understand Coach Bradbury’s style of play without having to think about it too much. In that matchup against Fairleigh Dickinson, the Lobos could use their size to their advantage and received great games from Rachelle van der Keijl, Kianna Keller, and Jaisa Nunn, with each player collecting 9 rebounds and combining for 33 points. The Lobos will need to keep getting great games from their front court and use their great size as an advantage. Things will get tougher for the Lobos when they face NMSU (1-0) on Tuesday night, as NMSU is coming off a great season in which they went 24-5, including a sweep of the Lobos.
Men’s Basketball Game 2: Houston Baptist
After picking up a win against Idaho State on Friday, the Lobos will look to stay undefeated on the season tonight, when they take on Houston Baptist. This should be a game where the Lobos are able to build a big enough lead to get some of the younger players solid game experience, but they’ll still need to execute if they’re going to get a comfortable win.